There was a brief moment in the not too distant past when music was distributed for free on the Internet somewhat like news is today. Napster was the place where listeners downloaded and "shared" digital versions of their favorite music with other fans. The music industry took notice of all this free traffic and when to court to shut down Napster. iTunes rose Phoenix-like from Napsters' ashes to become the dominant music distribution system.
For newspapers grappling with a way to put the genie back in the bottle and figure out a way to get folks to start paying for their product again, the rise of iTunes may offer some hope: "Maybe we can get people used to getting something for free to start paying for it again?"
But were interested in the music story here, and from the business side of things, iTunes has been an unqualified success. Still, there are detractors. Jon Bon Jovi seems to think the move toward digital has diminished the discovery experience of music, going so far as to claim Steve Jobs is killing the music business. I wonder sometimes. Certainly my teen-age daughters experience music far differently from how I did when I was their age. I hung out in record stores, thumbing through racks of 12-inch vinyl, admiring the cover art and wondering how it represented the music inside. No need for that (either the record store or the experience of hanging out in one) when you have iTunes. My kids gather round the computer with friends, sample songs and buy the ones they like. I'm not sure my kids have ever put on the headphones and listened to an album from start to finish the way I did.
There are other criticisms of the digital model. For instance, does it give industry leaders, some of whom have "control" issues, too much influence over music they way they once did during the payola days? Or does the Long Tail Effect level the playing field, allowing more artists to get their music to their fans?
So our question for the week: How much is there to Bon Jovi's claim that digital killed the music industry? We've talked about the tactile experience of ink-on-paper media. Is there a similar experience that the old album cover and liner notes, as well as being grounded to a fixed-site device like a turntable, that changes music forever? Is that really a change, and if so, is it necessarily a bad thing?
I'll look for your comments by Friday. The Sound Media is open and ready for your test-taking pleasure.
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ReplyDeleteBon Jovi's claim is ironic to me, it seems like he would just be happy that his music is selling and people think that it is worth paying for. To a degree I can see his point, I remember rushing out to the store with my allowance clutched tightly in my hand and picking out a cd. Sometimes I had never heard of the artist, I just like the CD cover. I would put the new CD in my Walkman and listen to it over and over. As fun as that was, I really like how we can now preview the song, and also we no longer have to by the whole album if we only like one song. IPods are great because you can have access to thousands of songs, rather than just twenty. I am undecided whether or not music has been significantly changed because of iTunes and iPods. If anything I think that they have made music more practical and convenient.
I was in the car the other cay and asked my daughter if she had her Walkman. That was funny. You should have seen the look on her face when I described that dinosaur of music technology.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with Bon Jovi that digital-or Apple-is killing the music industry.
ReplyDeleteI can understand where Bon Jovi may be coming from, as it is common in our society for older generations to feel nostalgic and resist the changes that new generations bring. But the music industry isn't dying...it's evolving.
Kids may no longer be "putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10..." but I can guarantee you they are putting in their earphones, or docking their digital media player, and still cranking up the volume. And "making a decision based on the jacket" sounds an awful lot like trying to judge a book by its cover, which I can honestly say I never did. I browsed the CD stores like any other kid in the '90's, but I never purchased a disc based solely on my imaginations of the pictures on the cover. Instead, I purchased discs from bands that I was familiar with and had at least heard once or twice via MTV or friend's music collections. The main difference from the way that I purchase music today being that I had to buy the whole CD-and there were several times that I wished I hadn't. Sure, you got a great song...and possibly 15 horrible ones, especially from "one hit wonders". (Anyone remember Marcy Playground?)
Today, I can preview an entire album on iTunes, and not make a purchase unless I am sure that I am investing wisely. Honestly, I prefer it that way.
I will let nostalgia intervene for a moment and say that I do miss those times in junior high and high school when I did purchase an album, and holed myself up in my room listening to every song, critiquing every one. That doesn't happen any more. But these days, who has the time?
Bon Jovi cant be more wrong here, digital music didn't kill the music industry, how could it have? Making more music more accessible for more fans? Increasing the number of people who can buy and or listen to music? Seems like it did the opposite to me, cheap music for everyone... But he was saying something in his article about feeling the music through the artwork on the package, maybe I misunderstood but that concept seems like it never happened, from talking with older people about music in "the good ol-days" not once did they ever say "I bought this album because of the artwork on the cover. They always seemed to remember how they heard the song on the radio or the band on the radio and were interested and went out to buy the albums and go to their concerts. What I believe killed the music industry (if we all agree that its dead) is the record companies that charge outrageously large prices of CD's.. Just an opinion though.
ReplyDeleteHas iTunes killed music? No. Has it changed the status quo? In a big, big way. While the pick-and-choose model has certainly affected the king of music being made, it is only to a degree. If your into pop music (broad term) then iTunes is great. You can buy all the hits and be pleased that your purchasing power is being met with music that suits your taste. If your into whole albums -many artists are still making those- you have quick access to whole lot more bands than you used to.
ReplyDeleteI have a collection of over 700 CDs and still primarily listen to those although I have been listening to a lot of internet radio lately, which in my opinion may end up having the same effect on radio that iTunes has had on the record business. Anyhow, those 700 plus CDs mean something to me. Each and everyone of those bands, are bands that I love. I want to hear every single song over and over again, and really get to know that album. Whenever I finally get with the program and start buying my music on iTunes -which my wife already does- I will buy entire albums. I don't sample music; I'm in for the full course meal.
It seems to me that the biggest impact is on artist who have only a few big hits. In that past they may have been able to sell an entire album because that was the only option. Now people can sample their other music, and decide that they only want the hits and can do without their other attempts at music making.
If anything, the digital age has made music more accessible, and more artist have a chance at being heard. Heck, if I was a musician, I would be thrilled if someone wanted to listen to even one of my songs.
Video may have killed the radio star (and I really don't think it did, I just wanted to sneak that in there!), but digital did not kill the music industry. If anything, I believe the switch to digital enhanced the music experience. It used to be that you had to hear a song on the radio, hope they announced its title/artist, wait for the CD to come out, save up for the CD, and buy it. Now, you can hear a song - from your friends, on the radio, at a school dance, wherever - go home, and have it that night. You don't even need the title if you remember some of the lyrics or are able to describe it well enough on a Google search. Open up iTunes, spend $0.99, and obtain a new favorite song. You can go on and do a search by genre if you're just looking for something different (German Folk is a fun one!). You can see what's popular. The album artwork appears on your screen. You can find the lyrics. Everything is at your fingertips. You needn't buy a whole CD to get one song you like. It might discourage a bunch of people from buying that song if they had to pay for almost a whole CD worth of music they didn't like. I think that going digital has enhanced the music industry. It has made it much more streamlined and convenient. You can get your music faster, easier, and in many cases cheaper. I would also think it would be cheaper to produce than making thousands or millions of CDs. More artists can reach out to new consumers. It has definitely changed the experience. No more records, record stores, listening to whole albums at one time, or paying as much attention to the album artwork. But I think it's for the better.
ReplyDeleteOf course the move from physical copies of records to digital downloads is a change, but it is not necessarily a bad one. Music can now be discovered by practically anyone, anywhere with a connection to the internet. Sales of whole records may have gone down due to the introduction of purchasing individual songs, but the size of the market and therefore the amount of consumers has expanded. Digital music stores, the most prominent being iTunes, have not killed music. Instead, they have abolished an old mindset and established a new one. Record labels and artists that have embraced the change have profited greatly.
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